Page 52 of Wolf Crowned

Brandon looked up at the sky. “It’s crazy. A few months ago, I was trying to convince Mom and Dad to let me go to Cornell for IT, and now...”

Now we were in a fight for our life, and Dad was gone. I put a hand on his shoulder and leaned my head against him. “I didn’t know you were trying to go to school.”

His shoulders lifted and fell as he let out a long sigh. “It’s something I’ve thought about for a while.” He inhaled and exhaled, his jaw working like he had more to say. “I haven’t felt like I have a place in the pack for a while. I don’t fit in.”

I pulled him in for a hug. “Brandon, I had no idea you felt that way.” I gave him an extra squeeze. “You’ve been integral to our plans. I don’t want you to feel that way, and if you do, you can talk to me.”

He patted my back. “It’s okay. I’ve kept to myself a lot.” He looked over his shoulder at the tombstone.

I shook my head as I pulled away, putting both hands on his shoulders. “Sometimes we don’t fit into this perfect wolf mold that we think we should. That’s okay. You are perfect the way you are.”

I looked at my father’s grave. My stomach churned. “When this is over, I’ll support you if you still want to go.”

The smile that lit his face was contagious. “Thanks, Sloane. It means a lot that you say that.”

I gave him a playful pat on the head. “Having an IT brain comes in handy. I’m so impressed with your ideas.”

He laughed. “I suppose so. It is nice having Lincoln here. He gets it.”

I rubbed his arm. “He was an outcast at his home, too. I think when this is over, we are going to make sure that we foster the idea that it’s okay to like different things.”

Brandon opened his mouth like he might respond, but my phone rang from my pocket.

I fumbled for it, sharing a look with my brother when we saw Mark’s name illuminated on the screen. I licked my lips and slid my finger across the screen. “Hey, Mark.”

“Sloane, we did it,” he yelled into the phone.

I hit Brandon’s shoulder, and we both grinned. “You’re sure? No one has followed you?”

Mark breathed into the phone heavily. “I’m positive. We’ve done three double checks. There is no one else here watching us. We are in the clear.”

My shoulders lightened seemingly weightless as I let my head fall back. The moon beamed down at me and I said a silent thanks. “This is great news. Keep a low profile. I’ll send out more teams tomorrow night.”

“Will do. Bye, Sloane.”

“Bye, Mark. Stay safe.”

The line cut out. I squealed and jumped up and down as Brandon laughed at me. “I think something is finally working out for us.”

It was about time. We’d been hit with one horrible thing after another recently.

This was going to work. We were going to win. My heart thumped and giddiness washed over me. I shouldn’t get too far ahead of myself. It was dangerous. But we had hope.

Brandon’s watch beeped, and he looked at it. “I have to go check in on the wolfsbane. We should be able to start harvesting it.”

I nodded and gave him one more hug. “Thanks for taking care of that. I know it’s not pleasant.” My brows knitted together as I met his gaze. “I meant what I said. We’ll talk about Cornell or any other school when this is over.”

He grinned, the smile lighting his entire face. “I’m going to take you up on that, Sloane.”

I waved at him as he backpedaled. “Let me know how the harvest looks.”

“I will.” He spun on his heel and marched down the path.

The leaves crunched beneath his feet as he went. I stared as he disappeared between the trees and the dark sky.

I sighed as I turned back to the tombstone. I dropped to my knees and brushed a few twigs away from it. The dirt was still loose and soft. I put my hand on the frigid stone and closed my eyes.

“We are going to stop Alpha Dane, Dad. Order is going to be restored to the packs. I can feel it.”

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